Take Back The Tech! (Mexico) wins the 2016 Womanity Award for the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence

20.05.2016

Womanity is proud to announce that the 2016 Womanity Award for the Prevention of Violence Against Women goes to the Take Back the Tech! (TBTT!) campaign in Mexico, led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC, South Africa) and Luchadoras/La Sandía Digital (Mexico).
The collaborative campaign, which addresses the wide-spread problem of online violence against women, enables women to proactively respond to online abuse, claim virtual space and creatively influence policies and practices. The ultimate goal is to build an internet free of violence.

Yann Borgstedt said, “We are very excited to support Take Back the Tech!’s replication in Mexico. Through this movement, women go from being users to producers of technology. We particularly liked their collaborative and innovative approach to fight online violence against women, which is a growing threat, and their capacity to positively influence global social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook.”

Receiving the award, Jac SM Kee, Manager, Women’s Rights Program at APC, and founder of Take Back the Tech!, said: “Winning the Award is a great recognition of Take Back The Tech campaigners’ work impacting on the issue of violence against women, and its possibilities. It will strengthen the network in Mexico, and deepen the work in the region, towards a free and safer internet for all.”

Lulú Barrera, Luchadoras Director, said: “Winning the award is the opportunity to build a stronger group of women to speak up, mobilize and change the discussion about online violence”.

The winning partner organizations will collaborate for three years to extend and replicate the TBTT! in Mexico. The Womanity Foundation will support the partners with funding, professional services, staff time, learning field visits, impact measurement, and any relevant expertise and resources necessary for the replication and scaling up of the innovation.

The biennial award was announced in Paris on May 19 at the OuiShare Fest, a four-day event that gathers 2,000 creative leaders, entrepreneurs, movement builders, purpose-driven organizations and communities to explore collaborative economies and digital transformations.

All finalists pitched to the selection panel before taking part in a live event about global tech for good. The leaders of the four finalist programs – Take Back the Tech, the BREAKAWAY Game, MyPlan App, and the Gender and Tech Institute – encouraged the audience to contribute to web security, stop online harassment, encourage boys and men to adopt gender-friendly attitudes and behaviors, and prevent gender based-violence using ITC’s.

The Womanity Award, launched in 2014, is given every two years to two partner organizations who will collaborate to replicate and scale an innovative and effective solution to prevent gender/based violence.

This edition’s focus is on organizations using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and new media to prevent violence against women.

About APC

The Association for Progressive Communications, based in South Africa, created the Take Back the Tech global campaign in 2006, with the view to reclaim online space for women and making that space safer and more representative, as well as a place for women to thrive and challenge norms that perpetuate discrimination and violence. The campaign is now present in 35 countries.

About Luchadoras

Luchadoras, the scale up partner, are a collective of women media producers based in Mexico City, dedicated to the promotion of women’s rights and social justice, via an online TV show. To replicate Take Back the Tech!, the collective will build a strong strategic network, equip women for digital self-defense, and train them to create content to respond to abuse and violence online.

The Womanity Foundation seeks donors and supporters to invest in and promote thework conducted under the Womanity Award. This may include endorsements,providing profile, facilitating partnerships, alongside funding for the award and the ICT for Womanity network.

If you want to contribute to the winners projects, with skills, resources or funds please contact servane@womanity.org